Veterans of the Second World War Arctic Convoys who delivered supplies to the Soviet Union are to be awarded medals, the Prime Minister has announced.
The decision caps a long battle for recognition by the veterans, who embarked on what Winston Churchill called the "worst journey in the world" to keep supply lines open.
More than 3,000 seamen died in Operation Dervish, which for four years, starting in 1941, delivered material to the Soviet ports of Murmansk and Archangel.
David Cameron told MPs he had accepted the recommendations of a review of military medals carried out by former diplomat Sir John Holmes.
He added that "the heroic aircrews should be awarded a Bomber Command Clasp".
"Sir John has recommended and I fully agree, there will be an Arctic Convoy Star medal," Mr Cameron announced at Prime Minister's Questions.
"I am very pleased that some of the brave men of the Arctic Convoys will get the recognition they so richly deserve for the very dangerous work they did."
Only a few hundred veterans are thought to still be alive.
Their efforts to secure formal recognition had been repeatedly rebuffed over many years on the grounds of protocol and because the Cold War had made the decision politically unpalatable.
Commander Eddie Grenfell, a veteran and leading campaigner for recognition, said he was "pleased but not delighted" and accused Mr Cameron of taking too long.
"In the meantime God knows how many of my Arctic Convoy chums have died waiting," said the 92-year-old from Portsmouth.
Cmdr Grenfell, one of the few to be rescued when his ship was blown to pieces on one mission, served in a number of theatres during the war but said none was as horrific as the Arctic.
Operation Dervish started in 1941. Photo provided by Greenpeace Once the conflict ended, he said, it was impossible to campaign for a medal for helping the Russians since Moscow was then the enemy.
When relations thawed after the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, an attempt to secure recognition was refused because of a rule saying medals can be awarded only within five years of the end of a war.
Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage, another prominent campaigner, welcomed the decision to address what she said was a "huge injustice" but urged the Government to act swiftly on its promise.
"After years of waiting, time is no longer a luxury that these brave men have on their side," she said.
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